


Options

by Mandoli



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-02
Updated: 2015-04-02
Packaged: 2018-03-20 22:22:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3667398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mandoli/pseuds/Mandoli
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because your mind likes to wander off into a fear of having to retire, and if you even think about what you could do instead of playing hockey, you're surely going to smash your forehead against a door frame repeatedly.</p>
<p>Written after repeatedly listening to Goodbye to You (Scandal; because that song is great, and I don't care what anyone says).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Options

When there are only five or so games left in the season, and you're out of the playoffs, you start to feel too many emotions. There are those that scream “okay, you can finally recuperate from whatever injury you sustained in January”, and then there are the ones that say “if we could only win a shootout or two, and didn't have so much pressure from the fans and media --”. Most of the younger guys could make excuses about why they're glad to take the summer off, and some of the veterans wish they could kick someone's ass if they heard what the younger guys just said.

But when you're someone who has had their share of injuries and would have played through the pain if the team had made the playoffs... You tend to think that whatever offseason you're in could be your final offseason. Because your mind likes to wander off into a fear of having to retire, and if you even think about what you could do instead of playing hockey, you're surely going to smash your forehead against a door frame repeatedly. If you could make your mind snap out of those irrational thoughts, it wouldn't be such a goddamn problem. But just in case you _can't_ in the days after the locker room is cleaned out and you had the exit interview from the General Manager and coaching staff, retirement doesn't seem like it's a far-fetched conclusion.

Tell yourself something: Even though your team is out of the playoffs doesn't mean that you need to re-think about your future. You can battle back through the adversity of being out half of the season, when the games mattered the most. You can put yourself through the pain of training through the summer, regardless of how old you are or how old you _will be_. It doesn't matter what anyone thinks. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. And if you've suddenly lasted twenty years in the league without collapsing on the ice due to a lack of oxygen, then congratulations. You're moving up the ladder.

Cheer up, though. You're going into the final season of your (possible) final contract. Okay, don't think it's possibly the end of your career in the National Hockey League. You have one more shot to impress the General Manager and the rest of the higher-ups in the fall. Maybe you can fight all of the peer pressure bullshit that will get thrown your way, and you can get a contract signed mid-season. Though if you're the betting type, this group of higher-ups probably want to convince your agent to trade you before it's too late. Hell, your trade won't be a crazy as some of the ones that happened this season. Why are we trading people who will never play again to another team altogether? Is it logically possible to do something like that?

Just relax. Eventually, things will work out. Even if it is going to be your last season. Whatever the case, it's going to be a new chapter in life. Maybe you can get a job in the business side of the sport. Shadow a scout. Join the coaching staff of the American Hockey League affiliate that's God-knows-where. That sort of thing. You have options. Look at all of them. It doesn't matter if this season is over. Your career isn't. But don't think of it that way. Nobody does.

Take the rest of April and all of May off, and enjoy the Cup playoffs. You'll be back in September, better than ever.


End file.
